On the positive - this guy has the best winning percentage of CFL quarterbacks (in history) - I think its slightly better than Moon and certainly better than Kenny Ploen, Jack Parker, Matt Dunigan, Damon Allen, Hank Burris, Russ Jackson, Ron Lancaster, Peter Liske, Joe Kapp, Flutie, Calvillo, etc.
On the negative - he's managed to finesse his team into two consecutive Grey Cup games, mainly due to incredible hi-end regular season records that require only 1 win to advance to the big game.
In each Cup he faced teams that were either .500 (TO) or under .500 (OTT) and succumbed.
Last year he was over-powered by an elderly man (Burris) playing his final CFL game at age 41 and putting in a woefully mediocre effort.
This year he faced another sure-bet Hall of Famer in Ray - and while being better than last year - he just couldn't get the job done.
More than X's & O's - more than rah-rah and pre-game mindsets. Mitchell failed in key categories. One thing a QB has to do more than anything else is protect the football - and its not just picks or getting tackled and fumbling personally. When you're driving deep into an obviously sagging Argo territory and you're at their 10 yd line with 4 minutes to go - you do the math - YOU ENFORCE THE FACT TO ANYONE WHO COMES NEAR THE BALL - HOLD ON CUZ THE STRIP IS ON - GO DOWN IF THERE'S NO FREE SPACE - AND JUST LET OUR SPECIAL TEAMS KICK THE FIELD GOAL (OR EVEN SINGLE) that allows you to go up by 2 scores!
Marquay should never have rolled his fellow WR under the table but from a fan's perspective he was 100% correct. Allowing a 109 yd fumble return is cruel punishment to the team's loyal and everlasting fan base. Didn't help that Bo-Levi was the last man back and probably could have made a play on the returner - but as Mitchell is wont to do - he washed off the pursuit because he's BLM and he don't need to make no stinkin' safety like tackles (Mike Reilly would have pursued the guy to the ends of time, so would Matt Nichols, they're warriors, not cowards)
So that gets super-botched with a WR struggling for extra yds that weren't there. QB who cowards out of the pursuit when he could have served to either make the tackle or even slow the returner down so that other speedier guys could have reeled him in.
The final Rx is perhaps the worst sin of all. Down 3 w/ 12 sec. left and down around the Argo's 14 you throw a medium length hail-mary into double coverage to your shortest receiver. That's not good thinking, its stinkin' thinkin'.
You have the tie in hand, you have Argos who only scored on 100+ yd plays (busted coverage by Campbell, 109 yd fumble return) and a vaunted RB (Wilder, Jr.) that you held to 13 yds on 9 carries cuz your d-line is far superior to the argos o-line.
But you choose to air it out with a wobble-duck pass only Kevin Glenn could be proud of. Even if you pass short and run Messam twice - and fail - the worst you can do is a 95% certain field goal to tie.
Maybe that's why the NFL has steered clear of BLM - he's too bull-headed and doesn't have the field discipline and demeanour to work properly, NFL style. Sounds like a correct assessment to me.
PS.
The 3 stinks of the Game.
- Mitchell
- Dickenson
- Fumbler Boy